Lennon's real-life 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds' dies at 46

The woman who inspired the Beatles' song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" has died of lupus. The St Thomas Lupus Trust, which supported Lucy Vodden during her long illness, said she died last week at the age of 46.

Mrs Vodden was a classmate of John Lennon's son, Julian, at a nursery in Weybridge, Surrey, in 1966 when he drew a picture of her, surrounded it with stars and took it home to show his parents.

The four-year-old showed it to his father and explained: "It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds." When Lennon and Paul McCartney's song was released, it caused controversy because of its hallucinogenic theme and supposed reference to LSD. Lupus is a chronic disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue.